Nowadays it is almost impossible to think about a person or organization that works expecting only a “thank you” as payment. This concept, however, exists and it is not some sort of scam or slavery. On the contrary,impossible.com is a global community that aims to help each other out by sharing people’s time, skills, and objects; with the simple objective of boosting people’s profile by encouraging kind actions and work, using only the “thanks currency” in exchange.

The mind behind this innovative concept isLily Cole, the English model, actress, and entrepreneur who has been also image of Vogue in several occasions. This idea came partly from Cole’s University of Cambridge thesis “Impossible utopias”. In her History of Art thesis, Cole meditates about momentary utopias in everyday reality, contributing to the possibility of making such utopias a reality; a concept somehow similar to the original term of utopia, first coined by the political philosopher Thomas Moore in his 1516 political fiction work of the same name.

In further analysis, Lily Cole wondered about the possibility of a website or platform where people could do things for one another without money being necessary as currency. In words of Lily Cole for Vogue “it just felt like quite a simple, obvious idea”, impossible.com was taking form in Cole’s mind.

The concept of impossible.com is simple and clearly reflected in its manifesto: having in mind there are only two things you can spend in this world, money and time; we all should be wondering what we are doing with these things, spending them or turning them into something impossible. Impossible.com is a group of people sharing knowledge, skills, and some time without expecting money in exchange.

Although Cole admits her model and actress profile has helped her idea to take off, the objective is that impossible.com can continue on its own. In the future people will realize that being helpful and selfless can bring enormous satisfaction as reward. Lily Cole is also demonstrating that the times we are living now need new business and economic models. Sustainable, equitable, and responsible business models also look for people well-being for nothing or little in exchange. Step by step social-engaged entrepreneurs like Lily Cole are making utopias coming true.

A friend of mine, who is an avid reader of my blog, asked me if I could write a post on when and how I knew was ready to start a business. Thinking back, I remember it started at the age of 19 when I was in college studying business. To keep afloat, I worked small part-time jobs in restaurants, bars and small offices. While I was enrolled in business classes I learnt that starting a business wasn’t as hard as it everyone said it was. I also realized that I would much prefer to work for myself than the employers who I had currently worked for. With that in mind, I made my first step into the world of entrepreneurship but before I took that important step I ran down these 6 points:

Was ready to start crafting my passion?:

When we start our careers we usually start in low entry jobs. These jobs generally entail tasks that are repetitive or soon become repetitive. It came to the point where I wasn’t pshcially capable of doing work I didn’t want to do anymore. I knew that by becoming my own boss and by stepping into the world of entrepreneurship I would be able to experience and practice a much broader line of skills. Entrepreneurship allows you to focus on the activities and passions you care most about or are most interested in. You can do this by finding ways to incorporate them into your business or forming your business around this concept.

I never received anything from the companies I worked for that was as valuable as the time I invested:

Building someone else’s dream is what we call a job, or even a career. If you have a job, it needs to bring something into your life. As for me, completing projects that brought an already wealthy person more money wasn’t filling in my achievement meter. I found the companies I worked for generally lacked a sense of community, meaningful goals and proper values. If you’re going to work for a company find one that you can admire and if you can’t find a non-materialistic value in them don’t work for them. Start your own projects, make a difference in the world and don’t submit to a greedy CEO. I decided that my time was best invested when it was towards my own dreams and passions.

I desired to live my life to its fullest and was ready to create the time to do so:

When you’re employed you will always have schedules, mannerisms and goals to follow. You’ll have deadlines to follow, a boss to follow, a contract to follow – you’ll be following something constantly. To me, becoming an entrepreneur was my entry way to following my own schedule and creating my own rules. I know, many people who put up with unjustified behavior and treatment at their jobs because they enjoy the comforts of their stability within their jobs. Something they don’t realize is that their quality of life has declined for all the wrong reasons and reasons that are not worth it.

Maintaining a free schedule that allows you to stay disciplined is important. Being able to freely decide on what they are doing, when they are doing it, how they’re doing it and who you are dealing with is what I define as true freedom.

I wanted to do make decisions and felt entitled to my opinion and beliefs:

I am a free soul who bases everything I do off of my vision, morals and values. Within a job, often times employers make you operate on their terms. They force you to see from their perspectives with the bribery of money which will eventually corrupt the soul. You have to always remember that you can be your own leader and develop your own methods of business even if they are not as prosperous as other solutions. For example, I am completely against non-environmentally friendly production so I do my best to find dealers who are socially and environmentally friendly.

When you give yourself the freedom to navigate your operations the way you desire – you’ll notice immediately the inspiration that will fill your mind with good.

I had the will power to minimize my life in the mission to maximize it.

Almost every self-made business owner knows the struggle of starting their own business with no support other than our own two hands. We have less money, time, social life and romance all for the sake of our start-up. Building a business from the ground up is like having a new born baby – you invest everything into its growth. You have to give up the expensive life style that included your fancy meals – unless it’s for potential business, reduce the amount of times you go out, limit your unnecessary shopping, etc. This sounds depressing but it’s actually so empowering. I’ve become a minimalistic through these strict practices and I do not not feel as if anything in my life is missing. I believe it is because I am working towards something that I believe is far greater than materialistic things.

I felt uncomfortable staying in something I didn’t believe in:

This point is my finishing point – it is also the most important. This doesn’t just apply to work or business – it applies to everything in life. As individuals, we have so much power and groups we have even more. When you are in a situation that makes you feel uncomfortable or feels wrong you must take action. For me, I simply didn’t agree with my past employmers which is why I took a step in my own direction. You should do the same.

I hope you enjoyed this read and please share your experiences and thoughts in the comment board!

Black and white identified as a symbolic trait of our history. I’ve always gathered inspiration through B&W photos because they arouse our curiosity or interest. Here are a nine (9) of my most favored black and white photos that I’ve came across during different moments of browsing and they all relate to businesses, inventors and owners:

The Disney crew getting their lunch

Hotel owner pouring acid into their pool with Africans

One of the first Ronald Mcdonald’s scary clowns

An inventor testing the final version of his bullet proof vest

A business man who thought this would be a great form of transportation. I wonder why it is now around today…

The oldest businesses in the world are certainly businesses we should take after and learn from. The power of persistence and keen, educated business minds are very powerful tools that are essiential for business success. If you think a 100 year old business is fascinating just imagine a business that is over 1000 years old like the ones in our list. Here are 5 of The Oldest Businesses On The Planet:

Kongo Gumi – 578 AD

Kongo Gumi is a construction company over 1400 years old. They apparently survived for so long because of their busines flexiablity. They were remarkably capable of swiftly going with the current era’s devastations.

Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan -705 AD

Is a hot spring hotel located in Hayakawa, Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan. It is one of the oldest operating businesses in the world and the oldest hotel. It’s been a family run business for 52 generations.

Sean’s Bar -900 AD

Located in Athlone, Ireland. It is considered to be the oldest pub in Europe. It was originally known as “Luain’s Inn”.

Stiftskeller St. Peter – 803 AD

Located in Salzbury, Austria sits Stiftskeller St. Peter which is considered to be the oldest inn within Central Europe. It is also cited to be one of the oldest restaurants in Europe.

In the Loire Valley located near Nantes, France sits a former castle called Château de Goulaine. The castle was home to the family of the marquis de Goulaine for over a thousand years. Now, it is the estate-bottled wine produced at chateau.

One thing we can all count on is finding inspiration from those around us whom are like-minded entrepreneurs. We are a community that is capable of changing lives and enviornments. I wanted to set-up a post with some of the most inpiration indivduals I’ve found on Youtube. Youtube is not always an accurate source for information, however, it is proven time after time that is is astounding for finding indivduals who do impressive things and who are simply impressive. Here are 5 inspiration individuals/groups I found on youtube:

44 Flood | Tome:

I first discouvered Tome when I was browsing Kickstarter for examples of how to prepare my first kickstarter video. Ever since watching their video I had been transformed into a very big fan. Their passion for their work is mind-blowing and they’re deep understanding of who they are, what and who they love along with the sheer happiness and fulfillment that dances in their eye was memorizing. The group has one of the first most successful campaigns on Kickstarter drawing in a total of 1,130 backers that equaled out to $132,538 in start-up money for their book project.

An aspiring artisit whom I discouvered when I was very young. He inspired me to stick to my dreams and passions and move forward with them even if I didn`t get any recongition. He started off with about 20 000 views to this video – now he is at 600 000 views:

I first stumbled upon Kirsten Dirksen when I was running some reserach on susainable communities for the Sustainable Entrepreneur Project (TSE). Kirsten has a number of videos that focus on localization, minimum consumerism and most importantly sustainablitiy and pro-social activist. She is an inspirational woman who has a drive and create very interesting, intelligent information that could possiblely change your way of thinking and even living. Just watching her work will inspire you to work as hard as her.

As most of you have noticed, I`m naming indivduals who are not featured in their own videos. People tend to mistaken confidence for quality or wisdom and in truth it is irrelevant. Steve Cutts is an artisit that creates pieces protraying the harsh reality of the human race. He focuses on protraying a number of social issues all stretched through a 3 minute video. The video I posted below is the first video of his work that I viewed:

Don`t forget we are talking business here. Michelle Pham is a makeup vblogger,however, it`s not what she vblogs about it`s about how she vblogs. Michelle Pham started vblogging when she was a little girl and gained herself a international fanbase. There are loads of girls blogging about makeup but Michelle has out done them all. By watching one of her videos you will see how much work goes into just one of her projects and it will inspire you to do your best the same as she has done. Her videos are an inspiration to anyone`s brand.

In hopes of sending you a little inspiration I wish that it helps in the most effective ways! Now it`s your turn – share with me your favorite most inspiration indivduals you found through the use of youtube! Share them in the comments below!

Being productive in the morning is a challenging thing. Productivity takes discipline, dedication and thinking. Many people know what their distractions are but need some set stone steps to get them started. To help, I’ve listed 5 steps on how to start your day productively:

1. Hit up the cafe up your street 30 minute before your usually departure time:

I used to walk up the street and grab a coffee at the cafe up my street where I would then sit and plan my day. The cafe didn’t have internet which meant I had no distractions while using my tablet.

By planning your day just before it starts you’ll feel more clear minded and have a higher chance of completing all of your tasks. Make sure to create a check list so you can keep track of what you have to do, what is done and what is left.

2. Work on the hardest and most dreaded tasks first :

The hardest task is the task that you may end up stressing over because it usually gets pushed aside due to its level of difficulty. This will often times cause you to procrastinate with the smaller and easier business affairs. This is because you may start to feel overwhelmed with the fact that one thing (most of the time an important thing) isn’t done and this will generally cause the rest of your list to fall behind schedule thus preoccupying your mind resulting in no productivity.

My advice is to start with the hardest affairs and go down to the smaller affairs so that you stay focused and feel motivated as well as accomplished throughout the day.

3. Log out of you social media accounts & close your browser:

Most people love to start their mornings off by checking their Facebook, Youtube, Pinterest, Twitter and whatever – instead, just log out and don’t open them. If you do work with social media be sure to schedule your posts for the entire week at the END of your workload.

A large 68 percent of workers say they have been distracted from completing work by browsing the Web, engaging with social media and checking emails.This brings us to our next point:

4. Limit your email & text responses:

Sure, you have to answer a few emails relating to potential or existing customers regarding their projects or status of their orders etc, however, if it is none of those it can wait for a response. Pick an hour in the day to respond to unimportant, non-urgent or non-priority emails. Focus on the tasks that will move your business forward.

5. Meet a like-minded friend for breakfast:

This is something that has always had an extremely positive outcome for me. My friends that own businesses or whom are students in university or professionals who are working hard and share the same ambitious as me are the best solutions to being productive in the morning. Pick a fantastic friend, pick a fantastic breakfast spot that has fantastic food and a fantastic ambiance and then have a fantastic conversation. This has never once failed me.

In the end, when you place yourself in a setting you love and admire nothing can stop you from your goal, objectives and your dreams. Be clear minded and don’t fall off track with all the distractions we have nowadays. I hope this blog post helped you! If you would also like to share some tips leave them in the comment board below!

Another reader of mine requested that I write a blog about how to start a Youtube Channel that would eventually turn into a business and salary. Starting a Youtube ChannelStarting a Youtube Channel is an easy process if you’re not looking to make any profit. When looking to start a profitable youtube channel that will become a business of it’s own there are many precautions you will need to take to ensure your channel’s success so here are 5 Tips When Starting Your Youtube Business:

1. Figure Out A Solid Subject or Theme For Your Channel’s Content:
Choosing the topic and theme of your channel is an extremely critical and important decision that will effect your success. If you choose a topic that already has a bunch of you tubers who already cover that topic and do a good job at it, It is unlikely you will be more successful than them or have any success at all. Unless you find a creative way to beat your competition, find a topic and theme that isn’t like all the other channels and Youtubers. Here are a few things to check:

Your idea is profitable – Do your research and see if your idea will or can be profitable:
– see if people need informations on a particular topic
– see if there is a flaw in what your competition is doing. ex: A channel that offers great information but lack in the creative sector. You could come in and do both thus winning over the audience.
– Make sure you have an interest in your theme or topic so that you can keep up to date with everything effortlessly and create content with a passion and ambition.
– Make sure you are knowledgeable in the information you share.

2. Film with or within the right settings and backgrounds:

Believe it or not this can make the biggest difference when viewers are passing by your channel for the first time. Having a pleasant or professional looking background will influence your viewers in believing that you are a quality blogger/Youtuber. They will be more likely to watch your video and perhaps even subscribe!
Examples of great backgrounds:
– Michael Phan
– Majestic

3. Get to know your targeted audience:

Getting the demographics of your audience is an extremely important thing. You need to understand your demographics interests and wants so that you can create content with the right reading materials, tone and creativity. Here are a few demographics to follow:
– Age -Gender -Hobby/interests – Cultures/Nationalities – Geographics -Personal Experiences

4. Make a few videos before marketing:

I cannot count how many times any in dependent, self employed individual makes this mistake. You need to have content before you start marketing your channel, product, service and general business. As a Youtuber, you should make the VERY MINIMUM five(5) videos before you begin promoting your channel.

5. Create a Facebook Fanpage:

Create a Facebook Fanpage so that your watchers have another account to watch you on. Be sure to add a personal touch to this Facebook page by showing off your personality and showing a bit more of your personal life/projects. For example if you’re blogging about beauty create a video of you going to get your nails/hair done. If you blog about information on the environment create something revolving around your personal projects that involve saving the environment. People love seeing new content about their favourite subscriptions on their Facebook time feed – so get creative!

6.Get in contact with other Youtubers and Channels:

Other than a Facebook Fanpage another great way to get more subscribers is to go to other Youtubers who are doing the same thing as you and ask them to check out your channel. Make sure to write them a personal message or even take a business approach and ask if they would be interested in exchanging promotional services.

I hope this helps you with the basics of starting a small Youtube Channel. Although the process seems quite simple it is time consuming and will become challenging to manage but in exchange you will have a fun and fulling job that will always have new projects awaiting to be developed.

Please let me know if you have any subjects you would like me to write about! Thank you Sarah for the blog request.

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About The Blogger

Katie Sinare the lead blogger on the Katie Raspberry Business Blog. She blogs about general business affairs while running a small business of her own in Marketing. She's been blogging for over 4 years and has been a business owner since the tender age of nineteen.